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Proposals for an international stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not join due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Growing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, once considered as a potential participant, did not attend a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a complete truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation mission and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political efforts towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would like expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, began formally on Thursday in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have many troops involved on the ground. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Governance Function

The proposed American document defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and vetted police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant perspective, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into granting the stabilisation force a administrative role in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Aid Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have misused such assistance”. The phrase permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and retain the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to review progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the remains of a small number of the original 251 captives remain not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. International officials insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.